Transcript The Critical Essay

HOW TO WRITE A CRITICAL
ESSAY
(on translation)
ABILITIES TO BE EVALUATED
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The evaluation of a critical essay on the translation of
a literary text is based on three main criteria:
1) the ability to critically analyze your own translation,
using the methodological tools you have learned in
your school and university career
2) the ability to organize your discourse in a format
and a language that may correctly convey to the
reader the ideas you want to express
3) critical autonomy and originality – how you manage
to give an at least partially new perspective on a
certain aspect of the theory or practice of translation,
without repeating well-known interpretations
ESSAY STRUCTURE
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1) Introduction (topic, focus,
methodology, aim)
2) Main body/development (ideas,
quotations from the primary text –
that is, both the original text and your
translation – and their analysis, critical
references)
3) Conclusion
GENERAL ISSUES
The basics (features of the formal level of the text you are
translating)
– Plot
– Setting
– Narration/point of view
– Characterization
– Versification
– Symbol
– Metaphor
– Genre
– Irony/ambiguity
Other key concepts (referring to what is outside the text but
influences it)
– Historical context
– Social, political, economic contexts
– Ideology
– Various critical orientations
– Literary theory
WH-QUESTIONS
One way to better focus your argument is to ask the most
elementary questions about what is really important in the
text – the so-called wh-questions:
 “what,” requesting a description (e.g., “what is the main
theme of the text”?)
 “who,” requesting the identification of a subject (e.g. “who is
the main character”?)
 “whom,” requesting the identification of someone acted upon
(e.g. “whom I am translating for”?)
 “where,” requesting a location (e.g. “where does the action
take place”?)
 “when,” requesting a temporalization (e.g. “when does it take
place”?)
 “how,” requesting the identification of a process or a modality
[“how does the text manage to convey its main ideas”?)
 “why,” requesting an explanation (as regards cause, purpose,
function, structure of the text)
MODES OF ANALYSIS
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observing and identifying the objects to be analyzed (specific
problems of translation);
describing the characteristic features of what is being enquired
into;
defining terms and concepts by naming them, referring to
objects, classifying individuals into classes, and distinguishing
between and comparing similar classes by means of ascribing
characteristics to them (e.g. if you are dealing with the
translation of metaphors, you must first define and list the
various kinds of metaphors you will be working on);
illustrating or exemplifying a general point in order to make its
meaning or application clear;
theorizing about and explaining how or why things are as they
are (and why you translate in a certain way);
conjecturing or speculating about possible explanations – how
things might be or might have been;
evaluating the adequacy of your observations, descriptions,
definitions, explanations and theories in the light of criteria
appropriate to each.
CLARIFY, SUBSTANTIATE, EXEMPLIFY
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Clarifying a statement: make the meaning of an
idea or concept more precise. Common linking
terms: viz., that is to say, namely. Common
marginal criticisms: Define this, What does this
mean?, Too vague.
Substantiating a generalization: refer to or quote
specific evidence. Common linking terms: i.e., in
particular, indeed. Common marginal criticisms: Be
more precise, Give evidence, Substantiate.
Illustrating a general point in such a way as to
make its meaning clear and its application concrete.
Common linking terms: for example, for instance,
as in the case of. Common marginal criticisms:
Illustrate this, Give examples.
PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE
 Statement – topic sentence
 Evidence – quotation (focus)
 Analysis – explanation of quote and
detailed comment
 Link – try to link back to the main idea
TOPIC SENTENCES
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Topic sentences are called this for two
reasons:
• Firstly, they tie in with the topic of your
essay.
• Secondly, they let the reader understand
the topic of the paragraph.
Using a topic sentence at the start of the
paragraph sets you off in the right
direction.
THE ITQEE STRUCURE
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The ITQEE structure helps you to remember what should be
in each paragraph.
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IT - tells you to Introduce a Technique. In other words,
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EE - tells you to Explain the Effect, to show what the writer is
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The IT part of this is also the topic sentence of the paragraph.
mention something you can see the writer deliberately doing
(and the way you try to translate it).
- tells you to give evidence by Quoting from the text/s (the
original and the translation).
doing his/her readers, and what you do in order to produce the
same effect.
QUOTATIONS
Quotations must be inside quotation
marks (“ “).
 If they are longer than three lines, they
should be indented, set in from the
edges of the page (without quotation
marks).
 After the quotation, you must indicate the
source (in brackets: author/s, year of
publication and number/s of the page/s
quoted).
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THE “SO WHAT?” TEST
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Don’t include quotations or comments
for their own sake. For each quotation
used or point made ask yourself “so
what?”
If the quotation does not tell you
anything about the problems of
translation your are dealing with or the
point does not add anything to your
essay then it should be removed.
GRAMMAR STRUCTURE
THINGS TO REMEMBER:
 The average English sentence structure is
subject-verb-object
 The subject is (almost) always connected to
the verb: do not insert other words between
them
 The English language does not love
adverbs: use them wisely (this is an
adverb…)
 When describing what happens in a literary
work, use the present tense
LANGUAGE MISTAKES
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The five most common language mistakes you
are likely to do:
Sentence boundary errors: comma splices, run-ons,
and fragments
Point of view errors: use of the 1st or 2nd person: in
literary essays, you should (almost) always use the
3rd person (when writing about your own translation,
you may have some freedom)
Wordiness: tendency to ramble on, using
unnecessary words, redundancies, periphrases
Poor verb choice: overuse of the verbs to be, to do,
to get, to have
Poor proofreading: lack of spell checking or of
editing for mistakes
DANGLING MODIFIERS
One of the most common and less visible grammar
mistakes is the use of “dangling modifiers.” Look at the
two following sentences:
“Before describing what happened, the background to
these events must be understood.”
“Examining the second stanza of the poem, the rhyme
scheme is even more complex.”
In both cases, the first part of the sentence “modifies” the
main proposition, contained in the second part. These
modifying phrases “dangle” because the nature of the
subject has changed in the transition from the modifying
phrase to the main proposition.
Please, avoid these mistakes by always asking yourselves
“is the subject the same throughout the sentence?”
PUNCTUATION
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Make a correct use of punctuation.
The period, or fullstop (“.”), separates two different
sentences: please do no separate them with a
simple comma (“,”).
The colon (“:”) exemplifies: please use it when the
following sentence explains the preceding one (as
this sentence does).
The semicolon (“;”) separates/links a series of
sentences belonging to the same logical level; it
must not be used to separate sentences which are
not linked to one another; it ought to be used
parsimoniously.
OTHER PUNCTUATION
MARKS
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Brackets (this sentence is contained in brackets) are
used to insert secondary comments
Dashes ( – ) are used to insert a detour from the point
you are making: they separate, not link, and there is a
space before and after them
Hyphens ( - ) are used to put two words together: they
link, not separate, and there is no space before or after
them, as in “Anglo-American”)
Dots (…) are used when the sentence is left suspended
Ellipses (. . . or […]) shows that a portion of the
quotation is missing
Do! Not! Use! Exclamation! Marks! (except in very!
very!! very!!! specific cases)
ITALICS AND
QUOTATION MARKS
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Use italics for emphasis or for the titles of
whole works (books, movies, musical
records, paintings, newspapers, journals)
Use quotation marks (“”) for the titles of
parts of books (chapters, essays, single
poems or short stories), single songs or
parts of musical works, newspaper and
journal articles
Remember: in English, commas, fullstops,
exclamation and question marks must be
inside the quotation marks, colon and
semicolons must be outside
THE CONCLUSION
After the introduction and the development,
you need to finish off your essay with a
conclusion.
The conclusion needs to do two things:
 1 sum up and round off what you have
written
 2 give your personal response
BIBLIOGRAPHY /
WORKS CITED
At the end of the essay you must add the list of THE works
you have cited
 You must list them in the alphabetical order of the authors’
last names
 Information must be given in this order:
A book: Last name, first (and middle) name: Title: Subtitle,
place, publisher, year (if there is more than one author,
separate them with a dash)
An article in a book: Last name, first (and middle) name: “Title of
the article,” in First, last name(s) of the author(s) (ed./eds.),
Title: Subtitle, place, publisher, year, pp.
An article in a journal: Last name, first (and middle) name: “Title
of the article,” Title of the journal, vol. (no.), month/season
year, pp
A webpage: Last name, first (and middle) name (if there is one):
“Title of the page,” Title of the website, URL.
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EXAMPLES OF WORKS
CITED
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BOOK – Bowen, Elizabeth: The Heat of the Day,
London, Vintage, 1998
ARTICLE IN A BOOK – Baym, Nina : “Thwarted
Nature: Nathaniel Hawthorne as a Feminist,” in
Fritz Fleischmann (ed.), American Novelists
Revisited: Essays in Feminist Criticism, Boston, Hall,
1982, pp. 55-77
ARTICLE IN A JOURNAL – Levine, Robert S.:
“Antebellum Rome in The Marble Faun,” American
Literary History, 2 (1), Spring 1990, pp. 19-38.
WEBPAGE: Tamm, Eric: “Robert Fripp, from
Crimson King to Crafty Master,” Progressive Ears,
http://www.progressiveears.com/frippbook